The Sri Lankan Leopard

In this beautiful capture by photographer Rohit Varma we see a Sri Lankan leopard in Wilpattu National Park. The Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is a leopard subspecies native to Sri Lanka.

Classified as Endangered by IUCN, the population is believed to be declining due to numerous threats including poaching for trade and human-leopard conflicts. No subpopulation is larger than 250 individuals. The leopard is colloquially known as Kotiya in Sinhala and Chiruththai in Tamil.